On 10/4/10 Oct 4 -7:36 AM, Faré wrote:
On 3 October 2010 17:18, Dave Penton djp@arqux.com wrote:
A manual section on the semantics of defsystem is sorely needed. I am fairly new to Common Lisp (one year). Like most developers I need some kind of system definition facility but find myself a bit exasperated learning to use asdf.
There is no well-defined semantics beyond what the code does. What do you need to learn that isn't covered by the manual?
I think there is some lack of clarity in particular about (1) the in-order-to/depends-on/do-first morass; (2) the whole "plan then act" nature of ASDF; (3) the odd semantics of PERFORM as relates to modules; (4) the protocol (in particular, how to extend the set of OPERATIONs and COMPONENTs).
I think I pretty much understand (2) and (3). I periodically understand do-first, but seem to reliably GC this knowledge. I don't have a clear understanding of (4) --- my attempts to extend the protocol often run on the rocks in corner cases I haven't tested.
Best, r